Through Our Partnership With World Vision, Our Reach Is Extended

Birdsong permeates the morning sky as excitement mounts our Vocational Training Center. Groups of local women from the Ngombe sewing co-op gather around a flatbed truck from World Vision. Through a unique cooperative partnership that benefits both organizations, World Vision US ships containers of Sew Powerful purses to Zambia approximately twice a year and then stores them in a warehouse in the capital city of Lusaka. Our Sew Powerful Zambia team collects the purses from the warehouse and transports them by truck to the Sew Powerful Vocational Training Center.

Life-Changing Supplies For Africa School Girls

Dressed in colorful skirts and bright headwraps, the Ngombe women work in teams of four to haul plastic bulk bags from the sewing co-op to the flatbed. Each plastic bulk bag is filled with 110 beautiful donated purses, which the women have filled with feminine hygiene pads, a bar of soap made at the co-op, as well as two pairs of underwear—a life-changing gift for a teenage girl living in poverty.

Scaling Up Our Programs To Reach An Increasing Number Of Girls

Today this truck will deliver 5,298 purses to waiting girls at local schools such as Chipapa Secondary School. These beautiful purses, lovingly handmade by seamstresses worldwide, have been donated for a lofty purpose—to help needy girls stay in school and complete their education to break the poverty cycle. The filled purses are presented to girls during health class, along with instructions on using and caring for the reusable feminine hygiene pads and securing them to their undergarments. The girls then pledge to use the products to go to school every day all month long, so there is no break in their instruction.

What Does The Gift Of A Purse Mean To A Girl In Poverty?

Girls living in poverty in Zambia have no indoor plumbing and have no access to feminine hygiene supplies. Traditionally, they must stay home from school when on their periods and end up failing exams at much higher rates than boys, resulting in a high drop-out rate at a young age. The gift of a purse filled with menstrual hygiene products means a girl in poverty can stay in school all month long. It means she won't be forced to miss valuable instructional time. It means that she has a better chance of passing end-of-term exams and continuing her education. It means she has an opportunity to learn a life skill that will enable her to support herself and her future children.

Studies show that if a girl is educated:

• She'll earn up to 25% more per year of secondary school
• She'll reinvest 90% of her earnings in her family
• She'll be three times less likely to become HIV-positive
• She’ll marry later and have a smaller, healthier family
• She’ll invest in her children’s education and support their studies
• She'll resist gender-based violence and discrimination and change her community from within

Reaching More Students In Need Together

World Vision workers on the flatbed hoist the large bulk bags with purses on top of the growing pile. Once the truck is loaded, the filled bags are tied down, and the truck pulls out of Ngombe Compound, on its way to another exciting delivery!

How Can You Get Involved?

Prayer: Our first need is prayer. Would you pray with us for the young ladies in the program. Pray also that our financial support would continue so we can reach more students with this important program.

Sewing & Volunteering: If you sew, Sew Powerful welcomes you to join the growing number of seamstresses worldwide who make beautiful gift purses for our girls in Zambia. Purse makers are encouraged to join our private Facebook group as well as join or start a local chapter for purse makers. More information about our purse-making program here: https://www.sewpowerful.org/pages/purse-project. Check out other ways to volunteer here: https://www.sewpowerful.org/pages/volunteers-page.

Giving Financial Gifts: Sew Powerful welcomes your financial donations. Your gifts allow Sew Powerful reach more students by increasing our local team. We pay them a living wage to make the pads and the bars of soap needed for the growing distribution of purses. Learn more about how to give here: https://www.sewpowerful.org/pages/donate

It Only Takes A Small Amount To Make A Big Change: Currently, it costs around $5 US to stuff each purse, although costs are beginning to rise. Although Sew Powerful is very frugal with expenditures, current economic challenges during COVID mean the cost of filling each purse is rising. The number of girls being served is also on the rise, as is the need to hire more trainees for our sewing co-op. Sew Powerful is seeking to expand the program in Livingstone, Zambia, as well as to begin meeting urgent needs in Chingola, Zambia. The need is great, and the time to act is now. Please consider joining this worthy cause. Giving online is secure and easy! https://www.sewpowerful.org/pages/donate